Mechanism for winding and paying out cables and the like



Dec. 26, 1950 J. T. RATCLIFFE 2,535,318

MECHANISM FOR WINDING AND PAYING ou'r CABLES AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 4, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOI? m e.

ATTORNEY Dec. 26, 1950 J. 'r. RATCLIFFE 2,535,318

MECHANISM FOR WINDING AND PAYING OUT CABLES AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 4, 1,947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Dec. 26, 1950 J. 'r. RATCLIFFE MECHANISM FOR WINDING AND PAYING GUT CABLES AND THE LIKE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 4, 1947 A TTO RNEY Patented Dec. 26, 1950 PAT F F ICE,

Applicatiim fiugust 4, 1947; 'Serial No.-.766;07& In-LGreatBritain February 8, 1946 Sectibnl; Public Law 690, August 8, 1946. Patentexpi'res, February 8; I966 venient: adaptable-andefiicient,in-use,randtwhich JEEP-3180200111138; The: invention is. particularly: useful in; connectionmwithvehicles incorporating tipping: ramps: 01': the; like, such' for instance: as;

is. described; in my: BritisluPatent; Specification No; 97,216; dated Decemberr13' l938; The inventionis: also: suitable; for such purposes as tying up boats in harbour and; other: moorings. and fon'efiectina the traversing: movements oi. oven headcranesandtlie like:

According: to; theinventioma; winding and; pay:-

outamechanism: comprises incombination a main. drum, an auxiliary drum; winding means, operating the maim drum; and'ia: ratchet. device operatively interposedbetweenqthegwinding:means and" the auxiliary drum; Preferably the main drum: and; the;--.auxiliary drums are provided. each. with. aadetent; device; to; prevent: it from: payin outzwhenrequlied;

There further: provided; according to, the: invention; anwindingz; and:-:paying out; mechanism comprising: aunainsdrun'iainvthe form of" an open-- ended. tube: supported. rotatably upon. three; or more? internal: heaters-distributed; around itstcircumference; internal gearing: within: said drum for rotating it; an. auxiliary drum, and common drivingpmeansforroperating; the-main andqauxilrdrums; Conveniently theamain and'auxiliary driizentmm ascommon handle or, other source of: power;v rotation; being impartedzto the;

auxiliary: drum thnough.a;v ratchetdevioei. Usually thecables.or;equiyalentarewoundupon.themain auxiliary? dl'llmszimsuch; a; manner" that: for: any; given movementxof; the. driving one otc'isaidi'. cables. lsrpaideout whilevthe other-is being; wound. Preferably the. main drum is," driven 1-- bu meansof; reductiongearing comprising gear wheelsand: pinions, mounted to; rotate about a pair ofxsgaced amas sandadapted-to,1:grovide-vam ousgearuratios any oneaoiwhioh: c.an.:be brought into;action =to suittheload- The inventionr-is illustrated byway of example;-

line. 3+3. of figure :1 and tdrawnwto-v an enlarged 2" Figure c is: a fragmentaryv'plan, taken on theline 4-4 ofEigure3;

Figure; 5. is a, transverse sectional elevation taken on the: line 5:-5: of Figure 1 and drawn. to: an; enlarged; scale;

Figure: 6 is asimilar viewtaken on the: line i -E QfFig'ure 1.; and,

Figured is; a diagram, repiiesentingiin side elevation a self-loading system: forwhich the int: provedwinding device is. particularly intended.

The; unit which;is showntgenerally inFigures l: and 2' comprisesa pair" of longitudinal girders H'- and l-2 connected by; transverse members l-3t to; form a rectangular base; This; carries a main: drum assembly indicated atld-andan auxiliary drum assembly l5 which are disposed: coaxiallyand are arranged; to. be; actuated by a common handle 16.. The-handle i6 is'engaged with the spigot 11 of a-pinion i8 which is freely rotatable upon a shaft l9 and which meshes with a gear; wheel; 20" freely rotatable upon a mutually parallelishaftel. A pinionlzlformedz upon the gear:

wheel 21} meshes-with; a gear, wheel 23 secured:

fast-upontheshaft l9. Abearing plate or bracket 24 secured to thcbase-IL l2 is formed with: a bearing 25 for the, shaft I94 while atubular projection 26; serves as themounting for the sta, tionary, shaft. 2 I; a. flange 21- carryingia detent, 28 adapted; normally to engage resiliently; with the teeth ofthe gear wheel 23-. and thus prevent the latter from turning backwards during the windin of themaindrum M; the detent 28 is arranged to be thrown out of actionto-enablethehandle It to: be turned backwards for unwinding the main drum i4 while; the auxiliary: drum i5 is: being wound. Also the; gear wheel Ze -is provided with aspigot 29 adapted: tov receive the handle I6 when the load. is; light. and a lower mechanical advantagesufiices.

IZhe main drum assembly l4 includes a second. bearing bracket 3e having= a bearing 3| for theshaft is which extends, within a main drum 33. disposedbetweentheibrackets- 24 and 3E1. This drum 33=is-in-the form of a. hollow cylinder with open endsandis rotatablymounted in the manner showninv Figures 3. and 4. The drum has at,

ingw between the bearing;- brackets 24 and 30, and

a. ball bearing 38 mounted upon a. rod 39, also extending between.said., bearing brackets. The. members, l9, 3 1Jand39 arelspaced approximately The bearing 25 is fitted with 3 120 apart and therefore form an efiicient bearing for the drum 33, the rod 39 having eccentric end portions (one of which is seen at 5|, Figure 3) so that the drum can be readily adjusted to run without looseness, by turning the rod 39 before clamping it to the brackets 24, 30. A center rod 40 also connects together these brackets 24, so as to produce a rigid and strong support. Between the races 34, the drum 33 has a thickened portion 4| formed with a circumferential series of internal gear teeth 42 meshing with a pinion 43 formed or mounted upon the shaft [9. The two rollers 35 are of an external diameter such that the pinion 43 is in full engagement with the gear teeth 42 when said rollers are pressed against the races 34.

Thus, rotation of the shaft [9, say 'in a clockwise direction, causes the drum 33 to be turned in the same direction but at a much slower rate owing to the mechanical advantage produced by the pinion 43 and gear teeth 42. The drum 33 is used for winding a wire rope 44 and is provided at one end with an integral flange 45 to retain said rope; the rope is retained at the other end of the drum 33 by an annular flange member 46 which is of channel-shape in radial section and is divided diametrally into two portions which are clamped together by bolts 4'! and 48 as shown in Figure 3. By this means the flange member 46 can be adjusted axially upon the drum 33 so that its distance from the flange 45 is suitable for accommodating comfortably the requisite amount of rope 44, depending of course upon the length of the latter. One end of the rope 44 is anchored to the drum 33 and for this purpose it passes through an oblique hole 49 in the inner flange of the flange member 46, the end of said rope 44 being securely anchored within the channel of the flange member 46 by means of a bolted clamping plate 50.

The auxiliary drum I5 is of similar construction to the main drum I4 and the parts where shown are indicated with the same reference numerals but with the suflix a. The drum 33a, however, is reversed end for end so that the auxiliary rope 44a winds in the opposite direction to the main rope 44. The auxiliary drum 33a is driven by a shaft [9a which corresponds with the shaft I9 and carries a pinion (not shown) arranged to mesh with internal ear teeth within the drum 33a, the latter being rotatably supported upon rollers and ball bearings, the same as the main drum !4. A ratchet wheel 52 fast upon the shaft 19a is engaged by a detent 53 (see Figure 6) which is pivoted at 54 to a bracket 55 attached t the longitudinal girder I2, the detent 53 being urged by gravity or by a spring (not shown) so that a detent tooth 56 co-operates with the ratchet wheel 52 to prevent anti-clockwiserotation of the shaft l9a and auxiliary drum 33a. When required the detent 53 can be swung over, out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 52. Also mounted on the driving shaft [9a is a circular plate 5'! which is connected by a pin 58 rigidly with a similar plate 59 having a boss 60 which runs freely upon the shaft [9 of the main drum assembly 14. A ratchet wheel 6| (having its teeth directed in the opposite sense to those of the wheel 52, is disposed between the plates 51 and 59 and is securely attached to the extremity of the shaft I9. A pawl 62 rotatably mounted upon the pin 58 is adapted to engage with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 6| so as to impart a one-way drive from the shaft H! to the shaft [9a. In order to hold the pawl 62 resiliently in engagement with the the teeth of the ratchet wheel 61.

teeth of the ratchet wheel El, said pawl is formed with a boss having surfaces 63 and 54 mutually at right angles, the surface being engageable by an arm 65 which is pivoted to the plate 5'] at 66 as shown in Figure 5. The arm 65 is urged resiliently towards the detent 32 by means of a coiled compression spring S's abutting against a lug 68 upon the plate 5?. It will thus be seen that as the pawl 62 rides over the teeth of the ratchet wheel 6!, the surface 5'5 assumes an oblique position and pushes the arm outwards against the force of the spring ii? which latter acts to return the pawl %2 towards its full engaged position. When it is desired to disconnect the shaft 53a from the shaft t9, the pawl 62 is moved outwards to the position shown in broken lines, in which position it is retained owing to the engagement of the arm 65 with the flat surface 64.

In operation when the shaft i9 is turned clockwise it produces rotation of the drum 33 which winds up the rope 44, the detent 28 (which can be of the same construction as the pawl 62) riding upon the teeth of the gear wheel 23 so as to hold the load. The rotation of the shaft 19 is not, however, transferred to the shaft 19a as, even if the pawl 62 is in action, it merely rides over If during this stage of operation it is required to pay out the auxiliary rope 44a the detent 53 can be swung over to its disengaged position. To wind up the auxiliary rope 44a the handle I6 is turned anticlockwise thus causing the ratchet wheel fii to drive the shaft iila through the pawl 62, the detent 53 holding any load in the auxiliar rope 44a; during operation in this manner the detent 28 must, of course, be moved to its inoperative position. Also the main rope 44 is paid out during anti-clockwise rotation of the handle it but if any slack should arise in said main rope 44 this can readily be taken up from time to time by turning the handle [6 through the requisite angle in the clockwise direction; such reverse rotation, of course, is not imparted to the shaft [9a owing to the one wa action of the ratchet pawl 62.

The improved device is suitable for various haulage jobs but it has been primarily developed for self-loading vehicles of the general form described in my Patent Specification No. 497,216. The arrangement is shown diagrammatically in Figure 7. The vehicle which is indicated at "E5 is of the platform type and is fitted with ramp 76 adapted to be pulled up on rollers to the position 161) shown in broken lines. The main. and auxiliary drum assemblies are indicated at l4 and 15 respectively and are shown one above the other instead of co-axial so that the action will be more clearly appreciated. The main rope 44 extends rearwards and is attached at ll to the article which is being loaded, say a trolley '18. The auxiliary rope 44a extends from the auxiliary drum assembly 15 rearwards along the platform of the vehicle it, then around a pulley or roller "Hi-at the back thereof and then forwards, the end of the auxiliary rope 44a being attached at 89 to the front part of the ramp l8. The vehicle is operated in the following manner. Starting with the ramp in the position 161) the detent 28 is released and the handle I6 is turned anticlockwise, thus drawing in the auxiliary rope 44a so that the latter moves the ramp l6 rearwards, said ramp automatically tipping by gravity to its lowered position and sliding back as the winding continues until reaching the position shown in Figure 7. In the meantime the main rope 44 has been paid' 'out.andithlnmpeiinthenattached to the load 18. which latter. would, of courserheadisposedatthe foot of the rampt'lfir. Theihandle is then turned in the clockwise-direction;- so. as towindthe main rope 44, the. de,tent 53= being thrown out; of action for enabling the rope 44o. to pay out as necessary from theauxiliary drum assembly [5. This. however. i'snot. re uired at.

first asthe winding of themain rope 44 acts to pull the load la -upthe-ramp lfi, the latter usually beingprovided with lookinmmcam (not n). to hold it inposition. Whemthedoad lllgreaches an, abutment ,8I atthe frsmtzuithemamp ldtliese locking means are released so that continued drawing in of the main rope 44 causes the ramp 16 itself to be drawn up to the position 16b, the auxiliary rope meanwhile paying out as the ramp 16 moves forwards. When unloading. a similar procedure is adopted, but it is then important that the main rope 44 should be maintained in a fairly taut condition to keep control on j the load 18 while the ramp is moved to its sloping position. This, however, is readily achieved by occasionally turning the handle in the reverse (clockwise) direction to take up this slack, the detent '53 in the meantime holding any load in the auxiliary rope 44a. The load 18 (which is usually mounted on wheels if it has no wheels of its own) runs down the ramp by gravity. r If the ramp I6 is to be returned empty it can be pulled back to the position 16b by securing the main rope 44 to the abutment 8| or any other suitable point on the ramp and then winding the main drum assembly I4.

In the improved driving means according to the invention the main drum and/ or the auxiliary drum is of relatively large diameter and this has the advantage that the cable has a more gentle curvature; also the drum can be of any diameter without affecting the gear ratio as the number of internal teeth increases to correspond. The gearing is, of course, protected from the weather.

It will be understood that the arrangements which have been described are given merely by way of example and that various modifications may be made in the design and disposition of the parts to suit requirements. Thus the main and auxiliary drums may be disposed one above the other with their axes both horizontal, a spindle from the main drum being connected byjja chain or gear drive with a spindle serving to drive the auxiliary drum through ratchet and peiwl mechanism. Also where a drum of relatively long axial length is provided the adjustable cheek can conveniently be used to divide said drum into two portions adapted to take two separate cables. A brake may be provided in the usual way, if desired.

What I claim is: v

l. A cable winding mechanism comprising a cable drum of hollow cylindrical shape, a ring of internal gear teeth formed within said drum, two internal circular races formed within said drum, one on each side of the ring of gear teeth, a driving shaft extending into said drum adjacent one side thereof, a toothed pinion which is fast on said shaft and meshes with the gear teeth, a pair of rollers mounted upon said shaft and freely rotatable thereon, said rollers being gripped radially between the shaft and the respective races when the pinion teeth are meshing to the correct depth with the internal ring of teeth, a plurality of guide spindles disposed within the drum at the side thereof remote from thedrivingshaft, andguide rollers on said spine-s dles also engaging with the, circulartracksz.

2. A cable winding mechanism comprising. a main cable drumof hollow cylindrical shape; a

. ring of: internal geariteeth formed within said; drum, two internal circular races formed-within;

said drum, one on each side of the ring offgear.

teeth, a driving shaft extending into saididrum;

adjacent one side thereof, a toothed pinion which is fast on said shaft and meshes with the ear teeth, a pair of rollers mounted upon said shaft and: freely, rotatable thereon, said rollers, being gripped radially between the shaft: and. therespective races when the pinion teeth are meshing to the correct depth with the internal ring of teeth, a plurality of guide spindles disposed within the drum at the side thereof remote from the driving shaft, guide rollers on said spindles also engaging with the circular tracks, an auxiliary drum disposed coaxially with respect to the main drum, a driving shaft for the auxiliary drum disposed axially in line with the driving shaft of the main drum, a ratchet coupling between the two driving shafts, a ring of internal gear teeth and a circular race formed within the auxiliary drum, a pinion on the corresponding driving shaft in engagement with said teeth, and rollers on said shaft engaging the race and holding the pinion correctly in mesh with the ring of gear teeth of the auxiliary drum.

3. A cable winding mechanism comprising a pair of plate-like mounting brackets disposed in mutually parallel planes, a cable drum of hollow cylindrical shape fitted between said mounting brackets so that said brackets respectively close the two ends of the drum, a ring of internal gear teeth formed within said drum, two internal circular races formed within said drum, one on each side of the ring of gear teeth, a driving shaft journalled in the two mounting brackets and extending through the drum adjacent the circumference thereof, a toothed pinion which is fast on said shaft and meshes with the gear teeth, a pair of rollers mounted upon said shaft and freely rotatable thereon, said rollers being gripped radially between the shaft and the respective races when the pinion teeth ar meshing to the correct depth with the internal ring of teeth, a plurality of guide spindles each extending from one mounting bracket to the other and extending through the drum at the side thereof remote from the driving shaft, and guide rollers on said spindles also engaging with the circular tracks.

4. A cable winding mechanism according to claim 3, including eccentric end portion which are formed on one of the guide spindles and fit rotatably in the mounting brackets, whereby angular movement of the said spindl causes the corresponding rollers to be adjustably moved towards and away from the races in the drum.

5. A cable winding mechanism according to claim 4, including one end flange formed integrally with the drum, and an attached flange member which embraces the drum and is adjustable longitudinally thereof, clamping means being provided for tightening the attached flange member circumferentially around the drum.

6. A cable winding mechanism according to claim 5, in which the attached flange member is channel shaped in radial cross section, and a cable anchorage clamp is fitted between the flanges thereof, an aperture being formed in one of the flanges of the flange member adjacent the anchorage clamp for conducting a cable to said cable anchorage clamp.

7. A cable winding mechanism according to claim 6, in which the attached flange member comprises two semi-circular portions, a lug at each end of each portion and screws fasteningthe adjacent lugs together to clamp the flange member around the drum.

JOHN TELFORD RATCLIFFE,

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the.

file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Barrett Aug. 14, 1894- Tryon June 25, 1901 Smith Sept. 24, 1907 Osgood Feb. 10, 1931 Mitzen'et a1. May 1, 1934 Schat et a1. Mar. 5, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain of 1908 Great Britain Aug. 15, 1921 

